Around Here editor/writer

A public hearing has been set for people to discuss Walmart’s proposal for a new supercenter store on U.S. Highway 129 in Jefferson.

The hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m. Jan. 8 at the Jefferson Civic Center with a question-and-answer session hosted by Wolverton & Associates, the company that filed the rezoning application on the 30-acre site.

The property for the proposed 152,000-square-foot building is located across the highway from a Kroger supermarket and CVS pharmacy. The Walmart would front on Old Pendergrass Road at the intersection.

The public hearing will precede any action by the government in Jefferson, according to Jefferson’s City Manager John Ward.

The city’s planning commission will meet Jan. 18 and hear the application proposal and their recommendation will go before the Jefferson City Council on Feb. 11, where the application for a rezoning from agriculture to commercial will be discussed, Ward said.

The council will not make a decision until its Feb. 25 regular meeting, he said.

“There is both support and opposition for the application and their goal is to provide as much information and narrow down the facts and remove some of the assumptions,” Ward said.

The public hearing will give the community an opportunity to look at the design and ask questions, he said.

Walmart is proposing a supercenter with a garden center and quick lube operation, but will not have a gas station, such as the Walmart on Epps Bridge Parkway in Athens. There are two or three out-parcels along the Old Pendergrass Road, which will likely go to other retail outlets.

“The biggest concern that’s been raised at City Hall so far has been the traffic it will contribute to Old Pendergrass Road, which has the city of Jefferson school system on it,” Ward said.

“We’re encouraging people to come because we do think people have made a lot of assumptions and basing their opinions on other Walmarts they’ve seen,” he said. “Until you see the site design for any kind of development, you’re making guesses. Hopefully, I think it will answer some questions.”

The proposed development is not a done deal, Ward said.

“There are a lot of discussions that will take place to make sure it is properly vetted,” he said.

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